The present invention relates generally to article conveyor systems, and more particularly to a new and improved article conveyor system which is used to convert a plurality of different streams of conveyed articles or products which are being conveyed along a plurality of relatively asynchronous or unrelated conveyance paths, into a single stream of conveyed articles or products which are thereby being conveyed along a single synchronous conveyance path as a result of a portion of one of the conveyance paths, disposed upstream from an intersection, junction, or convergence point of any two of the conveyance paths, being in effect controlled in an adaptive manner with respect to its conveyance speed such that the articles or products being conveyed along the different unrelated or asynchronous conveyance paths are able to be smoothly integrated with respect to each other along the converged or downstream synchronous flow path whereby no interference between, or overlap of, the conveyed articles or products occurs.
In connection with the conveyance of various different products or articles, such as, for example, individual postal mail units or pieces, the articles or products are often initially conveyed along different asynchronous or unrelated flow paths, and it is ultimately desired to integrate such different asynchronous or unrelated flow paths into a single integrated or synchronous flow path such that the multiplicity of articles or products, such as, for example, individual postal mail pieces or units, can be serially conveyed so as to undergo further processing within downstream stages, such as, for example, being appropriately scanned, sorted, distributed, and the like. While PRIOR ART conveyor systems have of course been constructed wherein different conveyor paths or streams can in effect be integrated or merged, such PRIOR ART conveyor systems are not capable of being operated in an adaptive mode, that is, the speed of the conveyor, or even that of a particular conveyor section, cannot be automatically controlled as may be required in connection with the integration of the converging conveyor paths. Accordingly, such conveyor systems can only usually be operated at a relatively low rate of speed, and in addition the spacing between the individual articles or products as they are being conveyed upon the conveyor paths must be relatively large, in order to permit the articles or products being conveyed upon one of the conveyor flow paths to be effectively inserted or interdispersed into spaces defined between the articles or products being conveyed upon the other one of the conveyor flow paths so as to achieve the desired convergence or integration of the articles or products from the different conveyor paths without encountering interference between or overlapping of the articles or products. It is therefore apparent that such conventional conveyor systems suffer from or exhibit significant operational drawbacks or disadvantages in that such systems are significantly limited with respect to their operational velocities and product or article throughput volume.
A need therefore exists in the art for a new and improved article or product conveyor system which is an adaptive type article or product conveyor system wherein a plurality of asynchronous article conveyor flow paths can be effectively synchronously integrated together into a single synchronous conveyor flow path so as to permit the articles or products being conveyed upon one of the conveyor flow paths to be effectively inserted or interdispersed into spaces defined between the articles or products being conveyed upon the other one of the conveyor flow paths in accordance with substantially high operating speed and volume throughput parameters and wherein further, the system is capable of achieving the desired convergence or integration of the articles or products from the different conveyor paths without encountering interference between or overlapping of the articles or products.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved article or product conveyor system.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved article or product conveyor system which effectively overcomes the various operational disadvantages and drawbacks characteristics of PRIOR ART article conveyor systems.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved article or product conveyor system which is an adaptive type article or product conveyor system.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved article or product conveyor system which is an adaptive type article or product conveyor system wherein a plurality of asynchronous article conveyor flow paths can be effectively synchronously integrated together into a single conveyor flow path so as to permit the articles or products being conveyed upon one of the conveyor flow paths to be effectively inserted or interspersed into spaces defined between the articles or products being conveyed upon the other one of the conveyor flow paths in accordance with substantially high operating speed and volume throughput parameters.
A last object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved article or product conveyor system which is an adaptive type article or product conveyor system wherein a plurality of asynchronous article conveyor flow paths can be effectively synchronously integrated together into a single synchronous conveyor flow path so as to permit the articles or products being conveyed upon one of the conveyor flow paths to be effectively inserted or interspersed into spaces defined between the articles or products being conveyed upon the other one of the conveyor flow paths in accordance with substantially high operating speed and volume throughput parameters, and wherein further, the system is capable of achieving the desired convergence or integration of the articles or products from the different conveyor paths without encountering interference between or overlapping of the articles or products.
The foregoing and other objectives are achieved in accordance with the teachings and principles of the present invention through the provision of a new and improved article or product conveyor system which comprises, for example, a plurality of synchronizer units wherein each synchronizer unit effectively achieves synchronization between two asynchronous conveyor flow paths. While the number of conveyor system stages may of course vary as is desired or required, in accordance with the exemplary conveyor system constructed in accordance with the principles and teachings of the present invention, three synchronizer units are utilized so as to achieve synchronization between four originally asynchronous article or product conveyor flow paths. In particular, two upstream synchronizer units are respectively utilized to integrate two pairs of the four originally asynchronous conveyor flow paths into a single pair of intermediate conveyor flow paths, wherein it is to be appreciated that the two intermediate conveyor flow paths are nevertheless asynchronous with respect to each other. Accordingly, a third downstream synchronizer unit is utilized to synchronously integrate the two remaining asynchronous intermediate conveyor flow paths into a single final conveyor flow path.
In order to achieve the aforenoted integration and synchronization of the various article or product conveyor flow paths, a synchronizer unit is incorporated within one of each pair of article or product conveyor systems. More particularly, the synchronizer unit is an adaptive type unit which means that the operative speed of the conveyor section with which the synchronizer unit is operatively associated can be appropriately controlled whereby the operative speed of such conveyor section can be effectively retarded or accelerated as required. In this manner, in order to properly integrate or intermingle the articles or products being conveyed upon any two asynchronous convergent conveyors such that the articles or products do not interfere with or overlap each other, the synchronizer unit or section of the one conveyor is appropriately slowed down or sped up such that the articles or products being conveyed along such conveyor flow path can be properly inserted into spaces defined between articles or products being conveyed along the other one of the conveyor flow paths.